Sunday, October 31, 2010

New performance-based Nike Running shoe called the Nike Lunar Flow will be making its debut in 2011, and I have to say, these look hot! I'm in the market for a new pair of running shoes, and it looks like I found a winner. Do yourself a favor and check our more pics (and the other colorway - which is just as nice, if not nicer, as the one above) over at Nice Kicks for more.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

OG in the game Shawn Stussy (no longer associated with the brand that still carries his name) has been quite lately over at S-Double studios. Yesterday, completely out of the blue, he announced that he dropped 5 new Limited Edition t's which you can cop now. No un-neccessary hype. No lookbook. No promo video. Just quality product. All available now at his web store. Above is the gangster tee, which I'll let him describe:

Gangsta Lean / Tee

Gangsters come from all styles and backgrounds... My favorites are the smooth operators, exotic rides, drinks at noon, gals in the penthouse... This design comes on our new tee shirt blank made in America of 100% cotton...

Friday, October 29, 2010

Noma Bar graduated from Bezalel Academy of Art and Design with a graphic design degree. Mr. Bar is known to utilize negative space, as evidenced here. Check his description of one of his personal favorite pieces below:

"If you turn your head, you can see that the face here is made up of the image of a baby. I pulled the image of the baby in the diaper from the mother-child changing station pictogram signs that you would see in a rest area. In the reference image, there is a mother changing the diaper, but I changed this. I made the baby's head bigger to become an eye for Jackson, but it's also an eye and mouth for the baby. The idea here is taking the baby from the mother and giving it to Micheal Jackson’s face. A lot of the story with Micheal Jackson was that the parents of these children sent their children off to the monster, in a way. This was a personal piece."

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Monday, October 25, 2010

Well executed comeback/redemption commercial from Lebron and Nike. Surprised Nike was down for the shots taken at some of their marquee athletes (Jordan with the Hall of Fame/Shiny Shoes references, Barkley with the "I am not a role model"/Donut reference) - but these do show that if nothing else, Lebron is a) definitely taking notes on those that were so outspoken against his decision, and b) willing to still have fun. Can't be mad at that.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Bill Gurley wrote an excellent article on the TV Industry and the its future in the digital era (Google TV, Apple TV, etc). Check it out - may not sound so, but its SUPER interesting and informative. Crazy times we are leaving in. Article via Business Insider.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Props to Miss Info for providing the download link to Joe Budden's HIGHLY ANTICIPATED 4th installment of his classic mixtape series, Mood Muzik. I wasn't even looking for this until the drop date of this upcoming Tuesday, so this was a pleasant surprise. Above video shows some behind the scenes of "the making of".

Joe Budden - Real raphip-hopmusic for real people. Note to other rappers - its ok for your subject matter to grow with you as a person.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

I've never been a huge fan of the Lebron line through Nike. The designs always seem so big and bulky to me, but I guess they are well suited for a guy with the physiche of Karl Malone but runs the floor like a guard. That being said, these are hot. Miami Vice inspired Lebron 8's. More info and pics over at Complex.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

So Athletic Propulsion Labs flagship shoe, the APL 1, has been Banned by the NBA (although not by name). There are plently of places to read the story online (from ESPN to Yahoo Finance to the usual suspects of new shoe release info), but I feel like its shameless promotion. Ever since artists/entertainers have latched on to the knowledge that any press is good press, and that the word BANNED is an automatic meal ticket (NWA, 2 Live Crew, the original Jordan 1 (original CLASSIC Jordan 1 commercial below), I've been a bit cynical of whether these items are actually banned - or if the Company is just looking for a shout. Would these shoes have been the talk of the town if they weren't banned? Short answer, no. They look better than 93% of the shoes NIKE put out last year, and look performance-oriented, but so did Under Armour's product, and they were endorsed by the charasmatic Brandon Jennings, and they didn't get this much talk.

These APL 1's are $300 - a price at which you can buy a pair Kobe's AND Lebron's signature models for. Yikes. At the end of the day, they should enjoy their 15 mins or quickly come up with a pair of shoes better priced for the middle market - because its going to take more than a sleek design and unproven talk of vertical enhancement to get kids to pay this much for a shoe without a name behind it, Ban be Damned.

Friday, October 15, 2010

OK - OFFICIAL TIMEOUT. Minka Kelly (Friday Night Lights) and Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl) are co-starring in an upcoming horror movie called The Roomate? There is no way in hell wifey is going to let me see this movie, haha (side story - it took 2 seasons of watching FNL and GG for her to convince me that they weren't the same chick). Oh - and no shame in my game - they are both great shows - lol.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

I've been meaning to post my thoughts on the GAP's DRASTIC logo change the last couple of days, and then what do you know, they up and changed their logo back due to the (largely online) public outcry. Ben Hundreds did a great job painting the backstory, and giving his/his brands position in the whole fiasco. Check it (and the links provided in their article).

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Happy Socks recently unveiled their FALL line-up, and what do you know, this go-around they added Hemp and Recycled Socks to their collection!

The hemp plant is not only one of the fastest growing biomasses known on earth but also a non-toxic renewable resource and a highly versatile crop, requiring few or no pesticides for cultivation. Its fibre is characterized by superior strength and renown for its anti-bacterial properties and high absorption capacity.
The Hemp & Recycled Yarn Socks are made of industrial hemp plants grown in Egypt, mixed with recycled yarn remains.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Similar to last year's BET Awards, the Cypher was the highlight. Lot of highlights, but I felt that 4 that stood out most were Big Sean, Pusha T, Bones Brigade, and Diggy. Since 2 of the 4 were in the same cypher - that's the one that had to make the page. Check my boy J-Hop's page for all 4 cyphers from the show this year. Other notable moments included MC Hammer coming out during Rick Ross's set, and that Shock G tribute to 'Pac at the end.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Long before the term 'Street Art' was relevant and long before young people realized that there was another way to promote their 'brand' and their name, beyond the traditional means of writing their names on walls with Spray and Ink, Cost, along with his partner Revs changed the game.

A Graffiti writer schooled in the techniques of bombing, Cost saw an opening to use the public space in a new way. In his campaign of simple white 8 1/2² X 11" paper postering on the backs of Walk / Don't Walk traffic signs, he took the idea of guerilla bombing and combined it with the blatant mass appeal of advertising. The language had changed from the insider hieroglyphics of graffiti to the simple text of cold type that anyone -young and old, black and white, rich and poor, could read. As a result the city paid attention. Unlike traditional graffiti tags that became aesthetic background noise, these messages - "Cost Fucked Madonna", "Cost Was Here" -were dead simple, and blanketed the city in a way that no one could ignore.

Though many young Street Artists take the credit for the novelty of what they do- the bad boy persona of breaking the law, mixed with the brilliant creativeness and inventiveness of a marketing agency- they seem to have forgotten rule number one in Graffiti, and in Street art - originality is King. Cost did it first.

Supreme will release a series of four limited edition t-shirts designed by Cost.

Available in-store and online October 14th. Available in Japan on October 16th.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

THIS IS CRAZY?! Banksy does it again. Not sure how long the YOUTUBE will be up, but check the write up here in case FOX takes it down, or read some of the commentary surrounding the Banksy storyboarded intro to the Simpsons here.

Friday, October 08, 2010

These are smooth. White on White (/grey), The Air Max 1's get classed up - but keep a gum sole to keep the street look. Despite a random splurge at the Nike Store last weekend, I've really been on that more subtle note - and these fit the bill perfectly. Via Sneaker Freaker.

Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Wednesdays of late have been great for two reasons, in addition to the obvious (hump day): 1) Crooked I's Hip Hop Weekly-reloaded and 2) The Hypemen Podcasts (It's the Real x Hot Karl). This week, the Hypemen had Just Blaze on, and if you love music, the industry, or hearin' stories about some of Raps superstars behind the scenes (Jay Z x Madonna, who was the "Pump It Up" beat originally made for, how did the Dipset get the"Oh Boy" beat, Rick Ross when he was still w/ Eric Sermon in 2000, and many more gems) check this podcast out!

Tuesday, October 05, 2010

I miss you entirely too much right now. I really thought we were in for an Indian summer this year after the way the clouds dominated the skyscraper from May-Sept, but back-to-back rainy days here in the South Bay have me expecting otherwise...

Monday, October 04, 2010

Via Rob: Right now on display at the Guy Hepner gallery in Beverly Hills is the latest work from Jason Alper. Oh, who him is? If you ever saw Ali G, or Borat and thought to yourself, wow Sascha Cohen has the greatest outfits, he’s so smart. No, he has a costume designer that does it all for him. Well that costume designer has also been painting and creating art on the side for 20 years and this show is something he thought of last April and got up on the wall this week...the theme is historic paintings with a Louis Vuitton accent. Where Jason grew up in London he said only the poor people wore Louis and the high end brands. He said “you never see the actual rich or royalty wear it.” So he wondered what these great works of art would look like if they sported LV back then. It’s kinda funny right?

Friday, October 01, 2010

Man - these watches have it all! Hot designs, environmentally responsible, different - without being to ostantatious.... I'm diggin' them a lot! Check out their different models here, and you already know they plant a tree for each watch they sell! Thanks to the Feed for the assist.